The wife of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen said she knew her husband was planning an attack, multiple outlets reported Tuesday, citing anonymous law enforcement officials.
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Following the deadly Orlando shooting, all social media accounts belonging to Mateen were quickly taken down before they could be publicly viewed but were made available to Johnson’s committee charged with investigating the circumstances of the case in congress. Other outlets have reported that she recently went with Mateen to the nightclub and that she accompanied him as he went to a gun store earlier this month to buy ammunition. She also went with him to Pulse, where Mateen killed at least 49 and injured another 50, some of whom remain in critical condition.
An FBI official said authorities believe Mateen’s wife, Noor Salman, knew about the plot ahead of time, but they are reluctant to charge her on that basis alone. The official said investigators have not ruled out charging anyone who may have had advance knowledge of the attack.
According to CNN, Mateen wanted to see if Pulse nightclub, the gay bar he targeted in Sunday morning’s attack and possibly frequented beforehand, was starting to trend on Facebook.
Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff at the club early on Sunday, called 911 during his rampage to profess allegiance to various militant Islamist groups.
Seddique Mateen said he has heard reports that his son was known at Pulse, but thinks the visits were a way for him to plan the attack. Perhaps afraid for her own life and the life of the couple’s 3-year-old son, Noor did not reach out to authorities. Mateen, 29, was a United States citizen, born in NY of Afghan immigrant parents.
He said he also spoke with his grandson overnight for the first time since the attack and the boy was asking for his father.
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While another said he had come across him on Grindr.
